The Plague of the Loyals
by Junipernose
Summary: It was many moons ago, young kit, when the illness struck. It sapped the warriors' strength, crushed their minds... Why, they were barely even cats anymore. There are the ones we remember fondly...The Loyals. The ones that stayed...And perished. Then, my dear, there's us...The Mutants. We, I'm afraid, come from a much less noble story. Maybe you will be the one to change that.
1. Prologue

It began as a rumor.

Not even a rumor, but a hastily whispered secret from medicine cat to leader.

To patient.

To clan.

To the clans.

A small, tickling cough.

A few breaks from patrols.

That was it; after all, it was just a rumor.

Half a moon in the medicine den.

"...It's just a rumor…" they whispered.

A full moon in the medicine den.

"A simple…"

Elders and kits collapsing as if they were dragged down by the paws of the deceased.

"...simple…"

Warriors stricken down by invisible claws in the midst of battle.

"...simple…"

The deaths of loved ones; the fear of what comes next…

Haunting the eyes of the bravest warrior and the wisest elder.

"...rumor."

It was a rumor that destroyed the clans.

It was a rumor that killed the loyals and spared the cowards.

It was a rumor that managed to shake Starclan out of the stars.

"It can't be… It's just a rumor!"

It was a rumor that turned out to be true.


	2. Chapter 1

Sweet's soft amber eyes softened.

"Gather round kits!" She chimed. "I suppose you're old enough to hear the full story…" Her eyes flitted with regret as she looked back on the events of those fateful moons. "You were lucky enough not to have to remember…"

Clover strolled up, her green eyes flashing. " _Lucky enough?!_ " she squeaked. "I've been wanting to hear this story for _ages!_ "

"Yeah!" Called Olive. "From the way the trainees make it out to be, it was pretty cool!"

Sweet looked troubled. "Now kits, the ap- trainees, don't know what they're talking about. The ones making those statements were barely older than you when the Illness struck…" Her eyes flitted to the edge of her sockets, looking towards the trainee den. "Have you ever talked to Ripple about it?"

"Well…" Cherry faintly mewed. "He never wants to talk about it."

Sweet nodded solemnly. "Yes, he is the only trainee that was old enough to remember _all_ of it." Her features darkened as her shoulders slumped. "I was a only just a new warrior when it began…"

Web looked over to the three other kits occupying the den with him. "You should be more respectful, guys." He mewed. "I don't think it was as 'cool' as it sounds…"

" _Oh please!_ " Clover said, whiskers twitching. "When you're not mooning over Flame you're asking about the Illness!"

Web's face flushed. " _Am not!_ She's just… Very mature for a trainee. I look to her for guidance."

"Guidance in her swaying hips…" Cherry snickered quietly.

Every face in the nursery swung to Cherry in unison.

"Baa… Fwa… UUGGHH!" Web stumbled.

"Cherry!" Sweet scolded, hiding a smile.

Olive and Clover just fell over and started laughing.

"Ok, ok! Calm kits!" Sweet swept the four kits towards her with her feathered, dusty-red tail. _Sometimes I forget I'm barely a young warrior._ The thought, still finding Cherry's remark hilarious. "The Illness is a serious matter… I need you to be serious about this. After all, if you can't respect a story, why should we give you the status of trainee when you're six moons old?"

Her eyes traveled over all the kits. Clover quickly settled down, flattening her silver tabby fur and tucking her white paws into a neat sitting position. Olive tried to stop fidgeting, hastily cleaning his sleek, mottled-brown pelt. Cherry, calm and timid as always, was already sitting down. Her long, red fur was perfectly straight and her blue eyes practically pierced through Sweet. Web was still struggling, his face not being able to shake off the embarrassed blush. Yet he managed to sit still, his wiry white and gray fur still ruffled

"From the beginning. It all began..."

"With a rumor." The kits finished instantly. Sweet glared at them, silencing any further interruptions.

"Yes, indeed. It began as a few minor coughs in the medicine den. But the medicine cats of the clans, Waterdapple, Sagepetal, Smallwhisker, and Eaglefrost suspected something more was going on. As always, the clan cats picked up on this."

"It was a cruel Illness, as it almost let you think you were going to be fine. You would nearly be healed, planning hunting trips with your friends the next morning and scheduling your first patrol back. Then, when you awoke the next day, you weren't the same. You didn't speak unless spoken to, and even then you droned on like you were reciting memorized answers. You looked, but you didn't see. You heard, but you didn't listen."

"That was stage one. On stage two, you become paralyzed. It's as if you've simply left your body. Their souls are unresponsive, but the cat is there. It's as if they're trapped in their bodies."

Sweet's eyes began to brim with tears as painful memories settled into her brain. "Then… stage three. The final stage. The cruelest part of the Illness is that it doesn't kill you… It turns you into some blood thirsty monster. The cat's eyes gloss over, their mouths begin to leak with what we called 'death droll'. I see you snickering, Clover. It seems silly, but you know not _why_ we called it that. The cats stay paralyzed, with no motives."

Sweet continued. "But if you come within ten tail-lengths to them… Something snaps. They're up in an instant, yowling and hissing, death droll flying from their mouths. Their eyes and noses leak with blood, and they throw the brute of their strength at you… No strategy, but no fear. They can keep fighting at full strength until they are mortally wounded or starved. They keep going and going, and when they can't anymore, they just fall over. Burnt out. Gone."

The kits eyes widened in fear. "They couldn't have been that bad…" Mewed Olive. "Nothing compared to a fox or a bear."

Cherry shook her head. "Bears and foxes would run in terror from these… Creatures."

"We tried to fight. We really did. But in the end, the only ones that died were at the hands of twolegs. The twolegs are the only reason those monstrosities didn't follow us here…"

"The Loyals… They did the wrong thing for the right reasons. They stayed, believing they could fight the turned. Cure the Illness and save the clans."

Sweet looked away. "Not a single Loyal survived. Only we, the Mutants, the ones who fled, survived. We were led by One, our leader. He was the oldest leader. He saw this Illness rising, and he said 'we must leave them. We must leave all the infected, all of the suspected. We must go and never come back, ever.'"

"Fights broke out. We hadn't figured out what stages are contagious, how long we have to determine whether it was the Illness or a normal cold. We still haven't!"

"When the time came, One decided that only those in perfect health could come. Those of us that followed him were called traitors. They said we committed mutiny. They deemed us the 'Mutants'. We were the minority, us Mutants. Some of us went back to the clans when the Illness still ravaged. Not one has returned. We went back four moons later… You remember that, don't you little ones? That's how we discovered what happened."

"Now, we've decided to make our own clan. The Mutants of the four clans have combined together to form Shatteredclan. We dropped the last part of our names, believing it represented us as warriors. But we aren't warriors, for we left our clan. We are no longer warriors after what we did, but we are fighters. The apprentices that dedicated themselves to their clan aren't here, but we have trainees. And we have our herb cat, our leader, and our deputy."

Sweet looked on to the distance. "Now you know kits. We are no longer warriors… But we are still a clan. Maybe one day we can be warriors again. But I'm afraid as long as we're Mutants… Were not deserving of the name."

 **ALLEGIANCES**

Leader: One - A mottled, light brown tabby tom.

Herb Cat: Ash - A dark-gray tom with long, wispy fur.

Herb Cat Trainee: Gorse - A thin, sickly tom.

Fighters:

Shade - A dark-pelted she cat with brilliant blue eyes.

Claw - A broad shouldered golden-tom with huge claws.

Leaf - A small framed she-cat with mottled brown fur.

Berry - A cream colored tabby tom.

Shiver - A frosty white tom with yellow eyes.

Breeze - A tabby red tom with white blotches.

Trainees

Ripple - A blueish-gray tabby tom, only trainee that was an apprentice when the Illness struck.

Flame - Fiery-coated she-cat. Was nearly an apprentice when the Illness struck.

Eagle - A heavy-coated brown tom. Was nearly an apprentice when the Illness struck.

Spot - A white tom with black spots. Was nearly an apprentice when the Illness struck.

Dapple - A tortoiseshell she-cat with delicate white paws. Was nearly an apprentice when the Illness struck.

Queens

Sweet - Feather, dusty-red she-cat. Foster-mother of Olive, Clover, Cherry, and Web.

Kits

Olive - Sleek, mottled brown tom. One of the four newborn kits to be saved from the Illness.

Clover - A silver tabby she-cat with white paws and a white stomach. One of the four newborn kits to be saved from the Illness.

Cherry - A red, long-furred she-cat with piercing blue eyes. One of the four newborn kits to be saved from the Illness.

Web - A grayish-white tom with wiry fur. One of the four newborn kits to be saved from the Illness.


	3. Chapter 2

_Few moons later, the four kits have come to accept the tragic past of the deceased the the ultimate betrayal of Shatteredclan. The kits have reached six moons, and they are about to become trainees, leaving the Nursery empty. The sun has risen, and the day of the ceremony is upon the kits._

Clover's bright green eyes flicked open.

"Olive!" she whispered, jutting her paw into her foster-brother's side.

"Yow!" he squeaked. "What?!"

"What do you mean what?" Clover meowed, confused. "It's our trainee ceremony today, mouse brain!"

Olive's eyes widened in excitement. "We finally get to train with the fighters! And we get to join the other trainees!" his amber eyes brightened. "Oh, I sure missed Dapple when she moved out of the nursery! Maybe she'll stop ignoring me when I become a trainee…"

Clover giggled. "It looks like Web isn't the only one mooning over a trainee!"

"I can hear you!" came a muffled yet harsh whisper from across the room. Clover and Olive payed it no mind.

"No I'm not!" Olive shot back. "She's just _really_ pretty, how could I not wish for her attention?" Olive's eyes glazed over, retaining a dreamy look. "If Dapple likes you, then _everyone_ likes you!"

Clover huffed angrily. "That cat's a snake-tongue! She knows she's pretty, and she abuses it all the time! She never goes on patrols or hunts, and she gets shining reports from her trainer even though she always fails her assessments!" Clover's claws worked through the ground. "Just you watch, someday _I_ will be the star she-cat of the clan!"

Olive laughed. "Right Clover. Let's wake the others up to-"

" _Someone help! It's back, it's back! Oh, Starclan!"_

The two kit's ears pricked, and they ran out to the center of the camp. Web followed after them, waking up Cherry and nosing her out to see what was wrong.

The Shatteredclan cats were gather around something in the center of the camp. While some cats eyes shone in concern, others were hissing in disgust and fear.

" _What shall we do?"_

" _Is he really… I mean, do we have to-"_

" _Where's One, where is he?!"_

"Hey!" squeaked Clover. "What's going on?"

" _Kits!"_ shrieked Sweet, pushing her way out of the mass of cats, "Inside the nursery, _now!_ "

"But-" Olive meowed.

"No buts! Inside, all of you!" Sweet swept the kits inside of the nursery with her long tail, thumping down in front of the entrance to keep them inside.

"Hey!" said Clover. "What's going on?" She attempted to wriggle past Sweet, but was instantly sent tumbling back into the nursery by a large red paw. "You kits don't need to see what's about to happen out there…" She whispered.

"What's going to happen?" Web meowed, his voice attempting to sound cool as panic edged it's way in.

"There's a sick cat out there, in the center of the camp." Meowed Cherry cooly.

"So?" Olive meowed, confusion showing in his gaze. "That's what the herb cats are for."

"No," said Cherry sadly. "this is different. The sick cat is showing some of the symptoms… They think he has-"

" _The Illness!_ " boomed a deep voice. Out in the center of the camp, One stood proudly. He looked in disgust at the sick cat.

"Gorse," he meowed. "you know the rules. You've shown the symptoms, and you can't drag the rest of us down with you."

"No!" yelled someone. Everycat turned to see Ash, the herb cat, standing bravely next to his trainee. "One," he meowed. "he doesn't have the sickness! I think it's whitecough, I can deal with it, just don't-"

" _Ash!_ " yelled One. "You know very well what allowed us to survive. Not taking chances, not looking back is what left us alive and the Loyals dead. We need to cut our losses before we have another epidemic on our paws!"

"It's wrong!" burst out somecat. Everycat turned to see Flame, the fire-coated trainee, trotting forward. "We can't just kill him out of suspicion!"

"Fool!" hissed One. "Just because we do it doesn't mean we like it!" Sadness shone in the old cat's gaze. "There's a reason we aren't warriors anymore… You know that very well Flame."

"I'd rather be dead than… Than _this!_ " hissed Flame. "I was a kit when we left… I didn't have a choice! I would rather have stayed than becoming this!"

"Fine." meowed One. "Prove it. Take Gorse and go, go far away. Take care of him, cure him. Come back once he's healthy. If you prove he doesn't have the Illness, you will both be welcomed into the clan with open paws. If you come back without Gorse, or if he is still ill when you return…" Decision filled his gaze. "You will be _executed."_

" _Executed?!"_

" _Not Flame!"_

" _She's but a kit!"_

"We don't have any room for weak links in Shatteredclan. This blind loyalty, _weakness_ , is what killed the Loyals." He bent down to Flame's height. "So, what do you choose?"

Flame's eyes clouded, and her eyes brimmed with tears as she shook her head. "I'll stay." She meowed weakly. "I'm sorry Gorse…" she whispered.

One nodded. "Good, you show great promise as a fighter Flame. I would hate to lose you over this. Gorse, I'm truly sorry. You've served us well as a herb cat trainee. But you should understand that we _need_ to do this. Claw, Shiver! Take him to the forest and do the job. Wash your pelts clean and _do not use your teeth._ "

Claw and Shiver nodded. "Come on Gorse." Meowed Shiver. "It's for the best if you don't struggle…"

Gorse whimpered as he followed the two cats, tail dragging. They disappeared into the bushes.

One looked towards his clan. "I suppose were in need of a new herb cat trainee." he meowed. "I shall take care of that soon…"

 **Hey guys! I hope you're enjoying the story. I realized I forgot to add the trainers of the trainees in chapter 1, so here they are;**

 **Trainees**

 **Ripple - A blueish-gray tabby tom, only trainee that was an apprentice when the Illness struck.**

 **Trainer: Shiver**

 **Flame - Fiery-coated she-cat. Was nearly an apprentice when the Illness struck.**

 **Trainer: Berry**

 **Eagle - A heavy-coated brown tom. Was nearly an apprentice when the Illness struck.**

 **Trainer: Claw**

 **Spot - A white tom with black spots. Was nearly an apprentice when the Illness struck.**

 **Trainer: Shade**

 **Dapple - A tortoiseshell she-cat with delicate white paws. Was nearly an apprentice when the Illness struck.**

 **Trainer: Leaf**


End file.
